Childlike Behaviour
by veryanne
Summary: He'd always been her big example. She was his little girl. He was many years older than she was, and he had seen her grow up. A short story revolving around the growing relationship between Bruce and Barbara.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: Once the story is finished, I'll turn it into a oneshot.

* * *

'It really is an honor to have you here, Bruce. Your donation means a lot to me, and to the whole force, I'm sure.'

I smiled. 'It means as much to me as it does to you, commissioner. I'm glad I could help. And to be honest,' I added, lowering my voice, leaning in closer. 'It wasn't even my idea. All credit goes to my butler.'

He laughed, but before he could reply, the door to his office swung open. A small child with bright red hair walked in.

'Officer Thomas doesn't know any fun games to play, daddy,' she whined. 'I want to sit with you!'

James let out an agonizing sigh. This wasn't the first time, it seemed. 'Bruce,' he said with an apologizing look in his eyes. 'I'd like you to meet my daughter, Barbara.' Then he turned to his daughter. 'Honey, this is mister wayne. He is a very important man.' He looked like he wanted to say more, but the little girl was already hiding behind his leg.

I sunk to one knee to be on the same eye height as the girl. 'Good afternoon, my lady, it's a pleasure to meet you,' I said, as I gave her the sweetest smile I had and carefully extended my hand. She slowly got out from behind her father. When in front of me, she examined my hand, but she didn't touch it. 'I'm Bruce,' I continued. 'How old are you, Barbara?' She just stared at me with her brilliant green eyes, pouting, hands buried deep inside her pockets. I felt a little uncomfortable as she stood there, still and silent, not at all how her father had described her on the rare occasions he had talked about her.

'I'm eight,' she finally spoke. She was rather small for an eight year old. 'I like you,' she continued, stepping closer. 'I think I'm going to marry you.' She looked dead serious, not a trace of amusement in her face.

Cute, I thought. I'd had my fair share of women in the years I'd been walking this earth, but I believe this was the first time a child had shown such affection for me. And to be honest, I had no idea what to do about it. Children usually spent as little time with me as possible. So I got back to my feet, gave her a soft pat on the head and turned my focus back to James. His face betrayed he was just as surprised as I was.

'I believe you are needed elsewhere, commissioner Gordon,' I said, regaining my usually never fading smile. 'So I'll see you at the upcoming annual police ball.'

Barbara looked up at me with widened eyes. 'But we haven't even played a game yet,' she yelped.

'I'll save you a dance at the party, little girl,' I promised.


	2. Chapter 2

Hobbling down the stairs, I was met by rumbling voices. My parents were having an argument over something useless, probably a disagreement of some sort about one of my father's cases. There was always a distinct difference with this from when they were actually fighting.

'It's about time someone did something about that scum.'

My father forcefully threw his paper on to the kitchen sink. 'But he operates outside the law.' I could clearly hear the annoyance in his voice.

'What scum, mommy?' I rubbed my eyes, still feeling sleepy.

My parents instantly turned around. My mothers face read that she wished I hadn't walked in on this conversation. I knew I was still a child to her. It was my father who answered my question.

'A couple of mobsters were attacked this afternoon. It's the fifth attack in six nights, the attacker seems to only target people associated with the criminal industry.'

My mother shot him a furious look. 'She's twelve,' she yelled. This could very well be the beginning of an actual fight.

'She's old enough to let her babysit her little brother, but she's not old enough to be told about the real world?' was my father's fierce answer. This was going the wrong way. A woman's last word should be the end of an argument. Anything beyond that, would just start a new one. I had learned that much from the previous arguments my parents had had.

'Dad, can you bring me to practice today?' I tried changing the subject. I guess it worked, because the grimace on my father's face lightened immediately.

'Sure, honey, what time do you have to be there?'

As my mother exited the kitchen, she left a trail of her sweet perfume. That stuff always made me crinkle my nose. Not because it was such a horrible smell, she just wore so damn much. My father gazed at his leaving wife, probably wondering what he had done to make her leave all of a sudden. I knew what I had done. This was my father's first day off in ages, and I had claimed him just like that.

Swaying across the road like this, the soft humming beneath me, being a passenger in my father's car always made me feel at ease. I had been begging my father to tell me more about this mobster attacker for the past hour, and now he was finally talking.

'You always tell me about interesting cases,' had been the straw that broke the camel's back.

The stories had started not too long ago. Stories about a creature of the night, threatening the worst outlaws of society. Later, the creature was replaced by a giant bat, the stories getting less plausible with every time. But now the police corp had seen the result for themselves. Mobster hideouts all over the city were getting exposed and demolished. My father's force hadn't been able to make this many arrests since, well since forever.

This guy seemed amazing to me. The stories my father told me were fantastic! It was just like my mother said, someone was finally doing something about the worst scum in town. This guy, he was like... 'Like a superhero,' I said, amazed.

My father jumped on his brakes and stopped the car, in the middle of the streets.

'Dad, what-' are you doing, was what I wanted to say, looking outside to see if no cars were coming. But I was stopped by pointing finger.

'You listen to me, young lady,' he said, still pointing at me. 'This man is the worst scum of them all.' Funny how he uses the exact same words my mother does, and then turns them around to go against her. 'He mixes himself in things normal citizens should keep away from. He doesn't ask for permission, and he doesn't keep to the law.'

'Does he wear a cape?'

'Yes.'

'I rest my case.'


	3. Chapter 3

'Miss Gordon, may I have this dance?'

The slim figure in front of me twirled around to face me. 'Bruc- Mr. Wayne!' she exclaimed. I couldn't resist a slight smile. Barbara put down the plate she had been filling at the buffet and took my hand, leading me onto the dance floor. 'You know, you are the first one tonight who recognized me.'

'Didn't you tell anyone it's you? James seems to think you're at home, too sick to join his party.'

She laughed, and told me she wondered how long it would take for her own father to recognize her. This showed how young she really was, because by just looking at her, no one would say she just turned fourteen.

She was dressed up as the female equivalent of the Batman. If her father had known she was going like this, he probably would've made her stay at home. By now, the relationship between the police corps and my alter ego had developed into one where they would occasionally call in my help, but I knew he still didn't approve of me as his daughter's obsession.

'And who are you supposed to be?' she asked, after circling me around the dancing couples for some time. 'This is a _costume_ party, you know.'

'Isn't it obvious? Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy.'

I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. 'May I cut in?' asked a soft, deep voice. I would recognize that voice anywhere.

Barbara gave me a slight nod, and as I turned around, another young lady with flaming hair came into sight. Poison Ivy. I glanced across the room and immediately noticed Harley Quinn sitting on the edge of the buffet table. She was dressed as one of the waitresses, waving at me with a smile plastered to her face.

'Ivy,' I said, more frightened than I actually was. 'Great costume, with all the leaves and stuff, no one will ever know it's you.'

She smiled brightly. 'You remember me!'

'Well, this isn't the first time you planned your little girls night out around kidnapping me. I'll go with you, no struggle whatsoever, just don't make a fuss in here.'

'But we're all about the fuss, baby-cakes.' I hadn't realized we had made our way to the buffet until now.

That's when Ivy pressed a kiss to my lips. I could only faintly follow what happened from that point on. How Poison Ivy captured me with one of her giant plant arms, how Harley Quinn told James they wanted a big amount of ransom money or they'd kill me, and how I was rescued by the female equivalent of The Batman. I knew Barbara was into gymnastics and material arts, but this was very different from her one performance I had seen a couple of years earlier.

When I was finally back on the floor, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy seemingly already on their way to Arkham Asylum, I could finally hear the whispers. Rumors of the Batman getting a Protégé. They called her the Batgirl.

'Figure that,' James said as he helped me up. 'Another red.'


	4. Chapter 4

He never said goodbye, he always just disappeared. And he never talked about anything private. He didn't ask about my day, or my name for that matter, and on the rare occasions I dared to ask about his, I'd be lucky if I got an "it's better if you know as little as possible". Not that he did converse with me about the work we did together. We didn't really talk much at all. And even though I knew I was a great help to him, he never showed his gratitude. He didn't even thank me after I had practically saved his life from the infamous Bane, whose sole purpose was destroying the Batman.  
Or so I thought until about a week after the Bane incident. After Batsy had once again disappeared into thin air as soon as the cops had come to pick up Riddler, the villain of the night, I discovered a small black box on the spot I had last seen the Batman. Inside the box, I found a deep purple colored belt with a yellow bat shaped buckle. It was a utility belt, exactly like the one the Bat wore, but in my uniform colors. I immediately put it on, it was a perfect fit. The pouches were filled with battarangs, and other high tech gadgets like a claw shot and something that looked somewhat like a pager. I couldn't believe it, I was finally in the loop!  
As I was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, carefully making my way home through the cool night air, I couldn't swipe the grin off my face. And even while brushing my teeth, undressed and ready for bed, I was still wearing the beautiful leather belt. One of the pouches suddenly made a beeping noise. It was the pager thingy. I clicked on the flickering screen saying "One new message". GOOD NIGHT, it read.

'You're still a fan of the Batman, right?' I nodded slowly. 'Because, O-M-G, I saw something on TV about him this morning. Apparently, someone took a couple of pictures of him fighting side by side with someone.' Yeah, me, I thought. 'But it's not that woman who's usually forcing herself into his crime fighting adventures, it seems-' My backpack beeped. It was my personal mini bat signal. GET TO BANK. PENGUIN ON THE LOOSE, the message noted.  
'Sorry, Emma, you're going to have to continue your story another time. It sounds very fascinating, but I have to go, I'm late for practice,' I said. And with that, I left her, making my way to the bank. Her words wouldn't leave my mind, though. Forcing myself into his crime fighting adventures, was that really how people viewed me? Like I was forcing myself on him? Was that how he viewed me?

We struck a pose, battarangs in hand. I was ready, he was ready, and Penguin was already planning a counterattack. So why weren't we attacking? Wait for backup, he had said. But even with seven patrol cars, the two of us would still be their best chance of getting this guy round up. And more importantly, there were still no sirens to be heard. This was costing us valuable time!

No sirens, but there was laughing. A little boy in a red suit swung across the room and landed in between the Bat and me, striking our exact pose, battarang in hand. But his was red. The Bat and the little one looked at each other, then simultaneously attacked. All I could do was stand there and watch, as an unknown predator was eating my bunny, or rather, my Penguin.  
'Robin, distraction maneuver, like we practiced,' the Dark Knight grumbled in his deep Dark Knight voice. I was flabbergasted. Who was this kid?  
'He's had training?' I uttered, my voice skipping a tone.  
The little one stopped his doings and turned to me, making a movement like taking off a hat. 'Robin,' he said, 'official partner to the Dark Knight.' After that, the two continued their practiced maneuver. Meanwhile, my ears felt like they were bleeding, my head like it was going to implode, and my eyes like they were going to flood from their sockets.

I knew my next action was probably not the right reaction, but I couldn't stop myself. I simply turned around, and walked away. I forced myself to keep back my tears until I was safely back inside my bedroom, but once the suit was replaced by my blankets and the mask by my soft, soft pillow, I cried. I cried like I had never cried before. The crying didn't really soothe the pain, though, it only numbed my body.  
My father came in once to bring me some hot chocolate, and once more to check up on me. I didn't go to school the next day, though it seemed I had run out of tears. My bat beeper beeped a lot, but I ignored it. I ignored it until it got annoying. That's when I filled up the bathtub and drowned the thing.


End file.
